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Columns

Along with the Virginia Press Association’s annual writing contest, the Bedford Bulletin takes part in the annual contest that Landmark Community Newspapers (LCNI) holds. LCNI is the company that owns the Bulletin along with 55 other community newspapers located in several states.
Tom Wilmoth, our editor, normally writes the editorial that appears in our opinion pages. One that he wrote last year won second place in this year’s contest.

This past week, during our District Work Week, I had the chance to visit with 5th District Virginians in Franklin, Bedford, and Albemarle Counties as Americans across this country joined together to celebrate Independence Day.

When our Founding Fathers signed their names to the Declaration of Independence, they could not have known how this experiment of self-government would unfold. What they were confident of, however, is that liberty is an inherent, God-given right, not one that originates from a King or other form of government.

Hopefully, most people are getting back to normal after the June 29 derecho wind event that swept through here from Ohio and went all the way to the Virginia coast and into Washington, D.C.
If you were lucky, you were relatively unaffected by the power outtages, business closings, and the gold-like lust for bagged ice that plagued most other people. But the lucky were few indeed.
We know the storms were a product of the extreme heat, a wave that began in late June, which is not the usual time for heat waves.

NATO supply trucks are once again crossing through Pakistan on their way to Afghanistan. This came after Hillary Clinton told the Pakistani government that the U. S. is sorry that Pakistani troops were killed when American air strikes hit Pakistani army checkpoints that were reported to be firing on Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
“We are sorry for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military,” Clinton said in a statement. She added that mistakes were made by both sides.

As Americans across the 5th District come together this year to celebrate Independence Day, we are once again reminded of the importance of our founding principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individual liberty that our Founders crafted into the beginnings of this great nation.

This week we received extremely disappointing news as the Supreme Court handed down their much anticipated decision on the constitutionality of Obamacare. In the narrow 5-4 decision the Court ruled the individual mandate, the centerpiece of the President’s health care law, unconstitutional under the Commerce Clause. However, the Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax, striking a blow to the principle of limited government that is laid out in our Constitution and delivering a very bad result for the American people.

July 4th always bring the backyard barbecues, family get together and spectacular fireworks celebrations.
Many families look forward to making their yearly trek to the local firework’s stand to make purchases for their own fireworks display. According to the National Fire Protection Association:

Every now and then, the cause for justice, decency and fairness in human relations and governance gets a victory that is so immense you can feel the aura of history around it.
That’s what happened on June 28, when the conservative-leaning United States Supreme Court, through the leadership of its Chief Justice, John Roberts, affirmed President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.